How was your Easter?

Dear John

I hope you had an enjoyable Easter break - after a huge couple of weeks at Parliament, I really enjoyed having some quality time with Jenna, Jeremy and Matilda at home in Days Bay. The next few months are going to be insanely busy so it's been great to recharge the batteries a bit.

New job: I had a bit more work reading over the weekend as on Thursday before the break I picked up a new job and also shed three as well! The Prime Minister did a reshuffle of his Ministerial team on Thursday, prompted by the departures of Judith Collins and Shane Reti from Parliament at the election later in the year. He's asked me to replace Judith and become the Attorney-General, a job I have to confess has always been on my wish-list for some point in my career! I have always loved the law, particularly public law, so I am really looking forward to the role. Way back in 2006/7 I was a summer clerk at Crown Law whilst finishing my law degree at Vic. I am told I am the first ever Crown Law summer clerk to become Attorney-General :)

As part of the changes I've lost the Leader of the House role, my Associate Sport portfolio, as well as the National Party Campaign Chair role. I loved all of them but as I've said publicly, there's only so many hours in every day and I've got a huge amount of work underway in Housing, Transport, Infrastructure, and RMA Reform that I need to absolutely focus on.

Anyway, enough about personnel matters, I suspect you're more interested in the ongoing fuel crisis and the government's response.

Fuel Crisis: Last week we announced the Fuel Response Plan 2026 - in short, we are planning for the worst and hoping we don't get there. There is currently no need for fuel restrictions - but ensuring New Zealand has the fuel we need to protect jobs, livelihoods and the wider economy is our first priority. We didn't start the war, we can't control any aspect of it - but what we can control is how we respond as a government and as a country. We are determined to not to repeat the mistakes of Covid, where massive spending increased debt and lifted inflation to a 32-year high.

Our mantra in responding is to be timely, temporary and targeted - that's what all the experts say any policy response should be. So we've legislated to make sure that around 143,000 working families with children will receive an extra $50 a week through a boost to the in‑work tax credit, with a further 14,000 families receiving a smaller payment. The increase will be temporary, lasting for one year or until the price of 91 octane petrol drops below $3 a litre for four consecutive weeks. We can't shield everyone from rising fuel prices but we can ensure those most in need get some extra support. The funding comes from the Budget 2026 operating allowance, so won't increase debt and it won't push up inflation further. We've also ensured that home and community support workers will receive a temporary 30 per cent increase to their mileage rates to help offset rising fuel costs.

On the fuel supply front, we're working with Channel Infrastructure, the owners of Marsden Point, to to enable an extra eight days’ of diesel to be stored there (around 93 million litres). The refurbishment of tanks at its import terminal should take a couple of months. We're also actively looking at other opportunities to increase our storage capacity.

Are we making more money? Lots of people have asked me if the government is getting more tax as a result of rising fuel prices. The short answer is NO! New Zealand's petrol excise tax is a fixed number of cents per litre, not a percentage of the pump price, so the tax take does not increase when fuel prices go up. In fact we are likely to see revenue actually decline as people drive less (and that is a real problem, as all that money goes into roads and other transport projects).

It is true that GST revenue on fuel theoretically rises when pump prices increase, but of course this is offset by reduced fuel demand and by lower discretionary retail spending elsewhere as households adjust their budgets (if your petrol bill goes up you spend less at the supermarket, for example)

What else is happening? Some other things you might be interested in:

Parliament last week banned greyhound racing in New Zealand - something I'm really proud of.
The government's Fast Track regime is working really well - 15 projects have now been consented, including the country's largest wind farm just last week!
We're rolling out 2500 additional Electric Vehicle chargers around the country over the next few years.
Around 1,500 new homes are set to be built as part of the new Te Awa Lakes development thanks to the Government approving the use of an Infrastructure Funding and Financing (IFF) Act Levy.

Speeches: Last Thursday and Friday in Auckland and Wellington was a whirlwind for me - I gave five speeches in the space of about 24 hours, to an Infrastructure conference, the Property Council Residential Development Summit, Financial Advisers, the NZ Planning Institute and the Automobile Association! You can check them out at the links if you're interested.

Have a great rest of the week. See you soon.

Chris

2500 new EV chargers

With Nicola Willis and Simon Watts announcing we’re co-funding an additional 2500 public EV chargers around the country with ChargeNet and Meridian Energy. There’s currently 1800 around the country so this new investment will more than double the amount.

We’ve been working on this plan for a while but obviously the recent fuel price shock is driving increased interest in electric vehicles. EVs make good sense for Kiwis - the running costs are lower and they’re great for the climate because so much of our electricity system is renewable (96 percent last quarter!)

We've banned greyhound racing

This decisive step reflects the clear will of New Zealanders and delivers certainty for animal welfare, industry participants, and the public.

How cool would this be?

This April Fools post by me got a few people going on my Facebook page...

Korokoro School Visit Parliament

A busy last few days at Parliament but it was lovely to have Korokoro School students visit for a tour! I enjoyed showing them the debating chamber.

Fast Track going from strength to strength

New Zealand’s largest wind farm has been consented in around five months. It will boost clean energy, create jobs, and strengthen our national grid.

It was previously declined resource consent under the RMA after years of back and forth and millions of dollars spent.

This is exactly what fast‑track reform is designed to deliver.

Riverbank Markets

Thanks to those who swung by the Riverbank Markets last weekend. Good to chat with people. I'll advertise the next one properly in advance!

Wheelathon

On the tools last weekend for the Wheelathon in Eastbourne. Fundraiser for East Harbour Kindy. Stunning day, lovely to see families enjoying the sunshine.

Watching Dad on TV :)

Ram Navami

Celebrating Ram Navami, the auspicious appearance day of Lord Sri Ramachandra, on Friday night at the Indian Hall in Petone. Great to see Cr Prabha Ravi there too! Rama Navami marks the appearance day of Lord Rama and the festival also symbolises triumph of good over evil and the establishment of dharma (righteousness) and is celebrated by millions of people all over the world.

Facts not spin

A couple of Fridays ago I had the pleasure of meeting Philip and Dinisha, who are the owners of Success Tutoring Lower Hutt. They've opened a learning centre in the same building as my electorate office, so it was great to meet some friendly neighbours! They provide device-less (yay), supportive tutoring for years 1-13, in line with the NZ curriculum.

Not long to go now

Not long to go now! Looking forward to the Petone to Ngauranga Sea Wall/Shared Path opening soon.

Chris Bishop MP

66 Bloomfield Terrace

Hutt City

Lower Hutt, Wellington 5010

New Zealand

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